아동·청소년의 민주적 대표성 강화를 위한 정치참여 개선 - 학교영역에서의 정치참여 제한 및 개선을 중심으로 -

What makes democracy attractive as a political form is that all citizens can share the formation of laws and public policies equally that can establish the basic structure of the rights and obligations to make decisions or have minimal impact on their prospects of life (the possibility of life) and opportunities. This premise of democracy is also common in ‘intergenerational equity’ and ‘sustainable development’. Children and adolescents under the age of 18 who are currently restricted in voting rights are also sovereign and citizens. Therefore, they too should not be restricted from the right of political participation, which is the most important right in democracy. Most government policies and political parties' activities are structure that responds to demands in the present generation. It is the electoral system that supports this. The current structure of giving democratic legitimacy through elections is bound to respond sensitively and immediately to the needs of voters who have the right to vote. Therefore, the reaction of the government and political parties to the current needs and demands of future generations is lukewarm. In order to improve these structural and institutional problems, substantially guarantee the human rights of children and adolescents, who are future generations, and secure intergenerational equality, it is necessary to realistically guarantee the participation of children and adolescents excluded from the current political decision-making process. Particularly, participation in political decision-making process through political parties in representative democracy plays a very important role in ensuring political participation of children and adolescents. However, children and adolescents in Korea are restricted from participating in political decision-making process through party activities. article 22, paragraph 1 of political parties act stipulates that “Anyone who has the right to elect members of the National Assembly are entitled to become either a promoter or a member of a political party, notwithstanding the provisions of other statutes that prohibit him/her from joining any particular political party or engaging in political activity due to their status as a public official or others.” As a condition for membership in a political party, the age of voting rights, '18 years old', is stipulated, so that children and adolescents without the right to vote cannot become members of the party, and the activities of the party are also restricted. The restriction on the freedom of party activities due to the restriction on the age of membership of a political party is acting as a reason for further strengthening the exclusion of children and adolescents from the political decision-making process of the community. It is necessary to find a way to improve their democratic representation so that children and adolescents representing future generations, who are disproportionately excluded from the political decision process, can participate in the political decision-making process. Therefore, in this study, as a way to strengthen the democratic representation of children and adolescents, a proposal to improve the relevant regulations of the current Public Official Election Act and the Political Parties Act is proposed.